Base-ball game.



. F. CRAMER.

BASE BALL GAME.

' APPHCATION FILED MAYNII I918.

' Patented Apr. 1,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. CRAMER.

BASE BALL GAME. APPLICATION FILED MAY'M. I918.

1,299,304. 'Patnted Apr. 1,1919.

? Z I 2 SHEET3-SHEET 2- I v u FRED CRAMER, OF FOREST, OHIO.

BASE-BALL GAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

Application filed May 14, 1918. Serial No. 234,436.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED CRAMER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Forest, in the county of Hardin and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Base-Ball Games, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a baseball game apparatus.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a parlor baseball game in which the several moves or plays found in the national game may be carried out by the manipulation of the several figures or men in conjunction with a ball arranged on the board.

A further object of the invention is to produce a parlor baseball game in which two sets of figures representing the opposing teams or nines are employed, one side being arranged in proper position upon a field represented on the board, the other having their innings or being at bat. A ball is arranged in front of the figure representing the pitcher, and is manually projected by manipulating the figure of the pitcher to project the ball toward the batter. The ball on enering a depression, back of the home plate,

entitling the pitcher to a strike, but not entering the said depression entitles the batter to a ball. Four balls, of course, entitle the batter'to a first base, and three strikes puts the batter out. Should the ball contact with the figure representing the batter, the opposing player manipulates the figure representing the batter. to project the ball to the field, either the in or out field, the said balls being played by a figure representing a fielder in whose territory the ball lands, in order to project and deposit the ball in a suitable depression, which, if successful puts the runner out, but which ball, if landing upon designated zones in the It is a still further object of the invention to provide means whereby a figure, when manually manipulated by the player, is adapted to pro ect the ball either in a straight line orat different angles so that in addition to the amusement afiorded by playmg the game a. certain amount of skill will be also required.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the nature of the invention is more fully understood, reference being had to the accompanylng drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view of aparlor baseball apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention, the men being removed.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the men in position.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view approximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4.- is a sectional view approximately on the line 4:4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the men.

Fig. 6 is a view of the disk representing the ball.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a board 5 which is of a substantially rectangular formation and which has its edges provided with a continuous upstanding flange 6. On this board is inscribed a diamond shaped figure 7 to simulate the infield of a baseball ground, and outward of the diamond is arranged the outfield 8. The diamond, within the border thereof is provided with transverse lines 9 dividing the said diamond into a plurality of squares or zones 10, the corner squares representing respectively, the home plate, first base, second base, and third base, and, for distinction, are indicated. by the numerals 11, 12, 13 and 14 respectively. Within the diamond, the board is inscribed to provide a parallelogram, representing the pitchers box, which in a line with the center of the said plate is provided with a cup shaped depression 17, and outward, and at the opposite sides of the said depression, the board is inscribed with parallelograms 18 respectively, representing the batters boxes, one being proj is designated by the numeral 14, and inward vided for a right hand batter and the other for a left hand batter. The parallelograms 14 and 15 are arranged in a line with the center of the home plate 11 and the second base plate 13, and in av direct line with the center ofthe depression 17. I

Outward of the diamond 7, and outward of the first base 12 and third base 14, the diamond is provided with additional cupshaped depressions l9 and 20 respectively, while at one side of the second base 13, and outward of the diamond 7, the board is provided with an additional infield cup-shaped depression 21. The board is further inscribed with heavy lines arranged parallel with the sides of the diamond as indicated by the numerals 22, and through two of these heavy lines 22 runs the foul mark lines arranged in a line with the inner Sides of the diamond 7. The portionof the diamond bounded by the heavy lines between the foul lines 23 and the outer lines of the diamond is divided by transverse lines 2a and these divisions have inscribed thereon separate distinguishing numerals 25 respectively.

The outfield 8 is divided into spaces or zones by transverse lines 26 and each of these zones has imprinted therein a separate designating numeral 27. The portion of the board representing the outfield is provided with cup-shaped depressions, one in the right field designated. by the numeral 28, one in the center field designated by the numeral 29 and the other in the left field designated by the numeral 30.

The zones or blocks between the bases in the infield or diamond, in the showing of the drawings number eight, but, of course, any desired number of such blocks or zones may be employed, and likewise, the outfield 8 may be divided into any desired number of zones or spaces, each of which, as stated, having a separate numeral imprinted therein. In playing the game, two sets of men, each representing the opposing players of two teams or nines are employed. The men of the opposing teams are designated by the characters A and B respectively, and a single disk C, desi nating the ball is. also employed. The men K and B are difiierently colored or may have other distinguishing characteristics, and these men are also in the shape of disks, having round peripheries, but being of a larger size than the disk representing the ball C.

The game is played by two persons, representing' the opposing teams. One of the players arranges his men on the field, say the player having the series of men indicated by the character A. The fielders are arranged behind their respective pockets, and the pitcher is placed in the pitchers box. The second player places a man to bat on either of the batters plates 18 that he may select. The disk G is now placed in the ball.

bat.

plate 15 directly in front of and in contacting relation with the man representing the pitcher. The player having the team in the field places his finger with any degree of firmness upon the disk representing the pitcher, and by snapping his index finger against the said disk, or by otherwise imparting an impact of force thereto, the disk will be caused to contact with the disk C to projectthe same toward the catcher. The primary object is to cause the disk C to travel over the home plate into the depres sion 17 or the catchers pocket. Eachtime this is done, a strike is counted, and three strikes puts the battery out. If the disk C does not fall into the pocket a ball is counted, four balls entitling the batter to first base. If the disk strikes the batter and does not fall into the pocket, the batter is entitled to hit the disk. Before the disk is hit, the pitcher of A team is placed behind one of the pockets 16. The disk is hit by the player of B team in a manner similar to that by which the disk is pitched, the disk being first placed on the home plate. The batter may be moved about at will within the limits of the box in which the disk was first placed, but not over the spaces behind the home plate. The batter endeavors to drive the disk to the outfield, but in some instances, the disk stops in the infield. If the disk enters any of the pockets in the field, it is supposed to have been caught, and the batter is declared out, and another batter is substituted therefor, until three men are out, when the positions of the players are reversed, that is, the team B going on the field and the team A to If, however, the batted disk does not land in any of the pockets, the fielder, in whose territory the disk stops, is placed behind the disk in contact relation therewith. and the player exerting an impact of force, such as the snapping of his finger against the disk representing the man, endeavors to project the disk to cause the same to land in the fielders pocket. If this is accomplished, the man at bat is out. If the disk stops on any boundary line or so near it, that it makes impossible for the fielder to catch it, then the fielder is entitled to. throw the disk to a base pocket to put out any advancing base runner, the disk being thrown in a manner similar to the pitching, and batting, as above stated. When the batter makes a hit and is not caught out, he is moved as many blocks around the diamond as indicated by the numbered space or zone .in the outfield in which the disk falls. All base runners advance as many blocks or zones on the diamond as the batter, and may be put out at any base which they are forced to occupy, by throwing the disk into the base pocket. To put out a base runner playing ofl or stealing a base, that is, when one of the disks A or B is arranged in the squares or zones of the diamond, off of any of the bases or bags thereon, the outfielder nearest the base runner is placed in his pocket. The ball is thrown against the man so as to rebound and touch the runner. If the runner be not so touched, he may advance four blocks and no other attempt may be made to put him out, until another strike is thrown. Whenever a batted ball falls into a pocket or stops on foul ground, all base runners must be returned to their bases, and a base runner is out if touched by a batted disk representing the' ball. Whenever a ball is thrown by the pitcher all runners on base are advanced four blocks.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that almost every play apt to occur in a regular base ball game can be executed by the players of the opposing teams represented by the disks A and B. Other rules and conditions other than those above set forth may be adapted, as for instance, when a fielder sends the ball into, the proper pocket he is entitled to another play, thus permitting double and even triple plays. The disk representing the ball must not be moved by the hand of the player, except to place it on the ball plate in pitching, or on the home plate in batting, or to place it in position to throw after having been caught in a pocket, and the ball must not be placed outside of the boundary line of the fielder into whose pocket the same is falling. The space upon which, or the pocket in which the batted ball stops is counted regardless of its having first hit any man or the inclo sure of the grounds, while a batted ball not caught may be thrown by any fielder, providing that such fielder be not moved outside the boundaries of his field, and no strike is to be counted if the ball rebounds from the inclosure, even though it falls into the pocket, and a base runner should pass around the diamond and touch the home plate after having touched the first, second and third base in their regular order, in

which instance, he is entitled to a score that counts one point in the game.

As both the disks representing the men and the disks representing the ball are pieces having round peripheries, it will be apparent that the proper arrangement of the man with respect to the ball disk, the degree of the force of impact by the disk representin the man with the disk representing the balE in order to drive the ball to play the same into the various pockets require a certain amount of skill upon the part of the players which, in addition to the amusement afforded by the playing of the game, materially adds to the interest therein, so that the playing of the game need not be restricted to juveniles, but, as a matter of fact, can be played by all members of the family.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

A game having disks to represent the players and a smaller disk to represent the ball, the disk representing the ball being projected by contact with the disk representing the player when a manual impact of force is delivered to the said disk, a field for the disk representing the players having a diamond shaped figure thereon to simulate the infield of a base ball ground, said field being divided intoa plurality of squares, the field having a pitchers box and a ball box in the diamond and pockets at the opposite sides of the pitchers box, said field being further provided with: pockets adjacent to the squares representing the first, second and third bases, said field having batters boxes, and a pocket to the rear of and between the said boxes, the outfield being divided by spaced transverse lines and the spaces between the lines each having imprinted thereon a separate designating means, and said outfield having pockets to the right, left and center thereof, all as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRED CRAMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G." 

